‘Star Wars: Episode 7′ Stormtroopers Design Revealed?

'Star Wars: Episode 7' is deep into filming, but everything we know can fit into one small box. Everything else is conjecture, speculation and rumor, educated guesses from people in-the-know and nonsense from fans with grand imaginations. We're not sure where this latest news falls yet, so we're just going to leave it here and let you be the judge. Is this the new 'Star Wars: Episode 7' Stormtroopers design?

One thing we do know for sure is that the big battle at the end of 'Return of the Jedi' did not completely obliterate the Empire and that they still exist, in some capacity, during the events of 'Star Wars: Episode 7.' And since things change with time, it would make perfect sense that the Stormtroopers, the Empire's canon fodder/main military force, would go through some kind of change.

Artist Tom Hodges refuses to say where he got a glimpse of the new Stormtroopers, but he did provide a sketch of what he claims is their new look.

And we can buy that as being legit! It's undoubtedly a Stormtrooper, but it's streamlined, refined with 21st century aesthetics. It's a little more inherently menacing than the originals, which gave the Stormtroopers blank and passionless look. This one makes them look downright scary, especially the elongated single eye visor.

Naturally, Hodges has been bombarded with questions about where he saw the new design and whether or not he's simply making all of this up. Here's his main response:

You don't have to believe me, I could care less if you do. And no, I didn't need to be on set or sign an NDA. I just happened to know the right people and be in the right place at the right time. I'm not showing any actual image of the helmet, I'm showing a quick five minute sketch. I'll likely post a better version soon.

In short: someone probably emailed him a photo that probably should not have been emailed.

Hodges has responded to a few more questions a comments (even shooting down one commenter's opinion that the new design "looks like a bird"), but that's essentially all we know at the moment. Like with all 'Star Wars: Episode 7' rumors, we'll take this one with a hefty amount of salt, but something about this feels legit. We know enough about director J.J. Abrams to know that, if given the chance to redesign the Stormtroopers, they'd probably look like this.